


Young Volcanoes

by Lucyndareads



Series: Edlois [1]
Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Fluff, M/M, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-22
Updated: 2015-05-22
Packaged: 2018-03-31 16:28:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3984934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucyndareads/pseuds/Lucyndareads
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is how all of Alois’s visits go. He finds Edward and torments him, in a way that should shock and repulse Edward, but… but somehow it doesn’t.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Young Volcanoes

**Author's Note:**

> WELCOME, ONE AND ALL TO THE NEWEST, HIPPEST KURO SHIP: EDLOIS
> 
> I know they don't exist in the same universe, but Edward Midford and Alois Trancy were absolutely meant for each other. Don't believe me? Read this fluffy fic!
> 
> (ps: all you need to know is that i picture Alois being 16 and Edward being 17. don't worry about what part in canon it takes place in. shhhh. just enjoy)

“Wait, what did you say, Lizzie?” says Edward, looking up from his breakfast to stare at his sister in horror. ” _Who’s_ coming to visit?”

“Why, Edward, didn’t you hear me correctly?” Lizzie says, looking at him with those big, innocent green eyes. “I said, I invited Earl Trancy over today for tea. You know, Alois?”

“You… invited Trancy over? Today? He’s coming today?” says Edward. “W-why?”

“Because I wanted to see him, silly!” Lizzie says with a giggle. “It’s been a while since we’ve had the chance to chat.”

“But… well… isn’t he so incredibly rude, Mother?” he says desperately, turning towards the Midford matriarch. “You wouldn’t want someone so uncouth coming over, surely.”

“Alois Trancy is ill-mannered and immature, with no respect for proper society,” says Frances after dabbing her lip with her cloth napkin. “But it isn’t his fault. He was taken from his home as a child and raised as a poor commoner in his village, before coming back home only to find his mother already dead and his father dying soon after. Of course a boy like that would be troubled. He needs support, something that we Midfords are more than capable of giving him.”

Alexis beams at her. “Your mother is so kind,” he says to Edward and Lizzie.

Edward isn’t giving up just yet, however. “But Mother,” he says, “What about Trancy’s butler? You said that he…”

His voice trails off and he swallows nervously at the ice-cold look on his mother’s face. “Claude Faustus will not be allowed inside this house,” says Frances firmly. “Lizzie has ensured that Alois will see to that.”

“It was my pleasure,” Lizzie adds with a scowl. “He aways creeps me out, and he’s so nasty and dull. Not at all like Sebastian.”

Edward sighs, realising that there’s no way he’s going to prevent this visit from happening. _This is fine. No need to panic. I’ll just hide in my room for the duration of his visit._

 

* * *

 

He’s at the desk in the study when he hears Lizzie’s excited squeal of “He’s here!”

“Damn,” he mutters. He had taken a bowlful of raisins and a novel on cricket history into the study, and the novel proved to be so interesting that he had let time get away from him.

Scrambling to get his belongings together, he knocks over the bowl of raisins. Rolling his eyes at his own incompetence, he places his book back on the desk and gets down on his hands and knees to retrieve every raisin from the floor.

It takes a while, because the floor is quite raisin-coloured itself and the raisins flew everywhere. Finally, he’s almost done, just crawling under the desk to find the last few-

“Am I interrupting something?”

Startled, Edward attempts to sit up straight, hitting his head against the bottom of his desk and grunting in pain. “Bloody- ugh- um,” he stutters as he hurries to stand up and face his antagonist, touching his hat and dipping his head as courtesy dictates. “Good afternoon, Lord Trancy.”

“Heyyyyyy,” Alois says, drawing out the word and giving him a little wave of his hand in reply, leaning his body against Edward’s doorway. “Long time, no see.”

“Um, yes,” says Edward, disarmed but not surprised at Alois’s lack of a proper greeting. “It has been a while since we last met. Lizzie tells me you’ve been busy.”

“Ooh, yes, very busy,” says Alois, leaning his head against the doorway as well. “Work, work, work. An earldom can be absolutely exhausting.”

“Yes, Ciel has also said as much,” Edward says. “Um, I am also quite busy, regretfully, so—“

“Edwaaaaard!” Lizzie calls from downstairs. “Mother says that you must come join our guest for tea!”

“Wha-? Lizzieeeee!” Edward calls back in protest, trying to ignore the triumphant smile spreading across Alois’s face. “I need to _work_!”

“That’s ridiculous!” calls Lizzie. “You were just telling me about how you were planning on reading that dreadful cricket book all day.”

“Aw, are you trying to avoid spending time with me, Edward?” asks Alois, a pout on his lips.

“No! No, I just…” Edward’s protest trails off as he sighs. “I’ll be down in a moment, Trancy. I spilled some raisins, and I-“

“Oh, so _that's_  why you were under the desk,” says Alois with a raise of his eyebrows. “Well, no problem, then. I’ll get the rest of them for you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous; you’re a guest,” Edward says with a frown. “Mother would never forgive me if I… I let…” He trails off as he watches Alois drop to the floor on knees and forearms, so that his barely-clothed arse sticks up quite aggressively.

“Ah, but since I was the one who scared you into dropping them, I should be the one to pick them up, shouldn’t I?” says Alois from underneath the desk, punctuating his words with a little wriggle of his rear.

Edward swallows. He stays frozen in place until Alois scoots back from the desk, stands up in a manner that rubs his arse against Edward’s thigh, and turns around to give Edward the remaining raisins with a beaming smile.

When they get downstairs, a somewhat stunned Edward keeping his chivalry intact by leading Alois to the parlor, Lizzie is waiting in one of the big armchairs.

Edward, assuming that Alois will take the other armchair, sits on the couch in the spot closest to Lizzie’s armchair. A moment later he curses his own stupidity as Alois, of course, sidles up next to him on the couch. They’re not actually touching, but there’s barely an inch of space between them. He swears he can feel Alois’s body heat.

Lizzie talks, and Alois talks, and Edward listens and nods and occasionally throws in a comment or two. He tries to focus on Lizzie, as if the two of them were merely having a conversation, but that’s rather hard to do; Alois keeps rubbing Edward’s forearm and sighing little sighs and licking the tea biscuits in a rather suggestive manner.

By the end of the visit Edward is sweating, and he’s desperately trying to avoid how interested his cock is in the way Alois’s tongue darts out to lick those soft pink lips.

This is how all of Alois’s visits go. He finds Edward and torments him, in a way that _should_  shock and repulse Edward, but… but somehow it doesn’t.

He keeps meaning to speak harshly to Alois, to tell the earl to knock it off before he starts a fight in order to defend his honor. But somehow, he never manages to do so.

Because sometimes Alois makes him laugh, cracking jokes about members of high society that the two of them both despise. Sometimes he’ll seem to be genuinely interested in what Edward is reading, and ask lots of good questions after Edward explains. Sometimes he’ll watch Edward play sports, and even though his whistling and appreciative remarks are embarrassing, they’re also somewhat flattering.

Edward wouldn’t consider him a _friend_ , though. Alois frustrates and teases Edward beyond belief, making him want to either pummel Alois to pieces or do… something else. Something he’d just barely imagined doing with a woman and the past; something he’d never thought he would want to do with another boy.

The whole situation is a big mess, frankly, and as Edward attempts to continue reading the cricket book after Alois leaves, he realises that there’s undoubtedly a storm coming. This isn’t merely a harmless dalliance; one or both of them is going to get hurt.

 

* * *

 

The next time Alois comes over, something is different.

He barely acknowledges Edward when he passes through the parlor on his way to the garden, which is beyond strange. So Edward turns to look at him more carefully, and is shocked to find that he looks _terrible_.

He’s always looked so made up—with tousled hair, sparkling eyes, shiny pink lips—and so carefree, jumping up and down and speaking so fast his words get lost in a jumble of chirpy enthusiasm.

But today he is… dull. His hair is greasy, his eyes are dark, his lips are chapped. He isn’t making eye contact, his body is slumped as if it’s being pulled back into the earth, his voice is hollow.

“G-good afternoon, Earl Trancy,” Edward says.

Alois merely looks him over before darting his eyes away. “Hey,” he says, soft and listless.

“Edward, can I talk to you in the hall?” says Lizzie firmly.

She pulls him out of the room before he can respond. “Listen: I need to tell Mother that Alois is here.”

Edward gasps. They never have guests over without telling Francis first. “She doesn’t-“

“Don’t be such a priss,” Lizzie says in exasperation. “As you may be able to tell, Alois is upset. He gets that way and he never tells me why. Just like Ciel, they both never tell me anything…” She trails off with a sigh. “Anyway, he needs support and he came to me. I’m not leaving him alone, but I do need to tell Mother, so can you—“

“No,” Edward says immediately. “No, no, no, I am not spending time alone with him. Lizzie, you _know_ how he is with me!”

“That’s just his way of being nice, Edward!” Lizzie says. “He likes you. At any rate, he’s not in the mood to flirt right now. He’s so sad, Edward, please?”

She gives him that Look, the one with the big green eyes and the wobbly bottom lip, and Edward sighs. “Fine. But come back quickly.”

“Thank you!” Lizzie says, crushing him in a hug. “And be nice,” she adds sternly as she pulls away.

Edward watches her run to their mother’s quarters and takes a deep breath before walking back into the parlor.

Alois is still sitting on the couch, looking at the carpet. “Ummm… hi,” says Edward, taking a few steps towards him.

“We already exchanged greetings,” says Alois flatly.

“Oh, right,” says Edward, scratching the back of his head. “Um… great. So-“

“Why are you here?” Alois says suddenly, looking up and making eye contact for the first time. His eyes are red.

“Well… it’s my house?” Edward says, confused.

Alois lets out a humorless laugh. “Cute,” he says. “I mean, why are you voluntarily in a room with me? Did Lizzie force you to?”

“Yes,” says Edward, before he can realize how bad that sounds.

“That stupid tart, thinking she can fix me,” spits Alois, standing up and looking furious.

Not as furious as Edward feels, though. Stepping forward, he grips that big black bow wrapped around Alois’s neck tightly, pulling the earl to him. “I understand that you’re distressed about something,” he says evenly. “If you want to talk about it, that’s fine. Insult my sister again, however, and I’ll coat you in bruises. That’s a promise.”

Alois’s eyes are wide, now. “I’m sorry,” he whispers. “That… I… I’m sorry, she doesn’t deserve that, I wasn’t thinking…” Edward lets him go and he crumples onto the couch, tears streaming from his eyes. _That’s why they’re red._

“Just… just don’t do it again,” says Edward, sitting down next to him. “Now, do you want to talk about it?” He can’t believe he’s doing this, but seeing Alois so upset bothers him, because… well actually, he has no idea why.

“I can’t talk about it with anyone,” says Alois, shaking his head. “I can’t… not anyone.”

“That’s nonsense,” Edward says. “My mother always says that talking about your problems is the first step to solving them.”

“And is your mummy always right?” says Alois nastily.

“Yes,” Edward says confidently.

“Oh,” says Alois, looking a bit put off. Then he shakes his head. “There’s so much, there’s so… you wouldn’t even believe if I told you.”

Edward thinks for a moment, struggling with what to say. “Well… what _can_ you tell me, Alois?” he says at last.

Now it’s Alois’s turn to think for a moment. A long moment. In fact, Edward is about to give up when Alois finally speaks: “He’s repulsed by me… he wishes we had never met. He thinks I’m a foul, repulsive gutter rat. I nauseate him.”

Edward opens his mouth to ask who Alois is talking about, but changes his mind. “How do you know that?” he asks instead.

“It’s the way he looks at me, pushing back those glasses and turning up his nose,” says Alois. “He hates me… but who could blame him? Everyone hates me. Why would anyone love me? Oh, god, who could… I’m… oh, _god!_ ” He starts sobbing violently, his slender frame shaking.

Edward, not knowing what to do, puts a hand on Alois’s shoulder. Alois promptly collapses into his lap, still sobbing. Edward nearly shakes him off, but forces himself to stay put, gingerly rubbing circles on Alois’s back. _I can feel his shoulder blades so prominently…_

Luckily, by the time Alois calms down a bit—his sobs turning into hiccups—Edward has thought of something to say. “I don’t know about whoever you’re referring to,” he says. “But he sounds dreadful; I wouldn’t count his opinion as a valid one. And at any rate, Lizzie loves you. I know she does. Hasn’t she told you that?”

Alois sits up, and Edward internally winces at the amount of snot, tears, and saliva that has gotten on his clothes. “Yes,” says Alois simply. “She has.”

“And my mother would never allow you to come here if she didn’t harbor some love for you in her heart,” Edward says. “So that’s two people. And my father finds you charming, I know. So that’s three.”

“Three…” Alois repeats, staring into space. “And you, Edward?”

“Pardon?” says Edward.

“What do _you_ think of me?” says Alois, turning to face him, putting hands on Edward’s damp thigh, leaning his face in close. It doesn’t seem like a flirtatious behavior; there’s something sincere behind those wide ice-blue eyes.

“Um,” says Edward, feeling his face flame. “I… I just—“

“Mother says you can stay over for the night!” says Lizzie, barging in the parlor excitedly.

“Thank you, Lizzie,” Alois says, turning to smile weakly at her as Edward jumps off the couch and tries to look inconspicuous. “I doubt I’ll ever be able to repay you and your family.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Lizzie says, waving a dismissive hand. _Thank you_ , she mouths to Edward as he attempts to sneak out of the room unnoticed. If she finds anything odd about Edward’s soaked pants, she doesn’t show it.

Edward doesn’t see Alois for the rest of the night; but during breakfast the next morning, Alois is all smiles again. It’s as if he was never upset.

Edward decides to chalk up what happened yesterday as one of Alois’s weird quirks; he won’t think anymore about it.

But soon after breakfast, after he retires to the study, there’s a knock at the door. Opening it, Edward sees Alois standing there. “What is it, Trancy?” he says.

Alois looks uncharacteristically shy, his arms behind his back as he bites his lip. “You called me ‘Alois’ yesterday,” he says. “Not my last name.”

“Um,” says Edward, “Yes. I- I wasn’t thinking, and—“

“I liked it,” says Alois. “Do it more often?”

“I- uh- don’t typically address my peers by their given names,” Edward says. “But I can try.”

Alois beams, and it does something queer to Edward’s heart. “Ok,” he says. “What you said, yesterday… it really helped me, Edward. It meant a lot. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” Edward says awkwardly. “It’s common courtesy to come to the aid of—“

“ALOIIIIS! YOUR CARRIAGE IS READY!” Lizzie calls from downstairs.

Quick as can be, Alois darts forward and presses his lips against Edward’s, holding them there for a moment before pulling away.

Edward stares at him, feeling as if the ground has just vanished under him. “Buh…” is all he can manage to say, his mouth made slow and stupid and burning from Alois’s kiss.

“Really,” says Alois softly, a satisfied grin on his face. “Thank you, I mean it.” Before Edward can do anything, Alois turns, hollers, “I’m coming down, Lizzie!” and rushes off to join her, leaving Edward crimson-faced and speechless as he watches him go.

 

* * *

 

Edward’s lost for the next two weeks.

As long as he is distracted, he’s fine. He plays cricket with friends, fences and hunts with his family, studies with his father.

But once he finds himself with nothing to do, there’s trouble. He’ll catch himself staring into space, a hand on his lips and a throbbing of his heart. He can’t get over it, he can’t forget the warmth of Alois’s lips on his.

So much confusion and fear build up in him, so much pressure and tension, that he almost feels as if he’s going to explode. If he doesn’t fix this, nip it in the bud while he still can, there’s going to be so much trouble.

So when Lizzie announces that Alois will be coming over, Edward immediately starts formulating a plan.

He will waste no time with pleasantries. Once Lizzie leaves them alone for a moment, he will demand an explanation of what happened. No matter how Alois responds, Edward will tell him to never do it again, to never even touch him. It was a mistake to try and comfort someone like Alois; he’s sure that Lizzie will be plenty comforting, more than he ever could be.

The idea of distancing himself from Alois… distresses him. But he has no other choice, and he’s determined to make his plan succeed.

 

* * *

 

He’s not sure how he got here.

But somehow he’s here, pushing Alois Trancy against a wall, one hand pressed against the wall for balance and the other tugging at the slim, firm thigh of a leg that’s wrapping around him. Somehow he’s shoving—no— _rutting_  his hips into a heated hardness that matches his own. Somehow he’s panting and grunting into silky blonde hair, dampening it with his saliva as it sticks to his lips.

Somehow there are hands on him, tugging at his hair and the back of his coat. Somehow there are lips pressing against his neck, sucking his skin, making him grit his teeth and increase the speed of his hips.

He hears that melodic voice saying his name, “Edward, Edward, oh, Edward”, moaning it over and over again as if Alois is trying to compose some kind of erotic song.

He hears that, and shudders, and closes his eyes, and swears as he releases, rutting into Alois as if it’s the only thing he knows. It’s overpowering and terrifying, and he groans with the painful pleasure of it all. Alois pets his hair gently, cooing in his ear as he finishes: “Shhh, let it go, good boy.” And it… helps? For some reason, it helps.

Now he’s slumped against Alois, his forehead against the wall, feeling the sweat cool on his body as he pants for air.

“You seemed like you enjoyed that,” says Alois, also sounding somewhat out of breath as he continues to stroke Edward’s hair. “I’m glad.”

“I… I just… I…” Edward struggles for words, pushing his head into Alois’s touch, for some reason. “What did we-“

“Shhh,” says Alois, pulling back to put a finger on Edward’s lips. “It’s alright, Edward. It’s ok!”

Edward pulls away from Alois’s caress, shakes his head frantically.“No, it’s… they say it’s a sin…”

“They’re lying,” Alois says lazily. “Believe me, I know. They’re a bunch of tossers who wanna make boys like us feel bad just ‘cause we like other boys.”

“Other boys…” Edward says. His eyes widen, his chest feels tight. “We… we like…”

“We sure do,” purrs Alois, snaking a hand up Edward’s chest. “Now, are you gonna help me come as well, or-“

“No!” Edward cries suddenly, suddenly putting his hands on Alois’s chest and slamming him against the wall.

“Ow!” says Alois, looking shocked as he brings a hand to his head, as if to check for injury. “What was _that_ for?”

“There’s no ‘we’!” Edward says, backing away from Alois until his back hits the door behind him. “You’re wrong!”

“Wrong about what?” says Alois, looking alarmed and confused.

“About… don’t lump me in with you and your… your perversions!” says Edward. “We’re nothing alike. You’re a disgraceful excuse for a lord, a blight on society. You’re filthy, disgusting; I want nothing to do with you!”

He doesn’t move a muscle, but Alois flinches as he begins to yell. As Edward finishes speaking, Alois’s knees seem to give out, as he crumples to the floor and holds his hands up to protect himself. His eyes fill with tears. “Please don’t hit me,” he begs.

Now Edward is the one who is confused and alarmed. “I… why would I ever do that?” he bellows, but Alois’s only response is to cower even more. “You don’t make sense, Trancy! You never do!”

His hand finds the doorknob and he quickly pulls it open, running out of that room as if it were on fire, running up to his room where he can spend the rest of the day bathing and trying to forget how elated he felt when he was rubbing himself to completion in the arms of another boy.

 

* * *

 

He avoids Alois for three months after that.

Three months of either escaping to a friend’s house or locking himself in his room whenever Lizzie brings him over. Three months of ducking into the nearest store if he spots the slightest hint of white-blonde hair whilst in town.

It’s stressful, but not overly difficult; Alois is hard to miss, after all. The truly difficult part is the fact that Edward actually misses him. He misses being teased about his boring books and being whistled at when he performs a particularly challenging maneuver in cricket.

He tries to resist masturbating to the memory of their… encounter, but he isn’t always successful.

Lizzie never gives him any trouble for avoiding Alois. She never drags him out of his room or begs him to stay when Alois is over, and she does no more than look at him weirdly when he frantically ducks inside the nearest store during shopping trips. This isn’t what Edward was expecting; he was ready for her to nag, nag, nag about how miserable Alois was, and how he must have done something stupid. But she hasn’t, so clearly Alois hasn’t said anything to her.

He begins to wonder if Alois cares about or has even noticed that Edward is avoiding him. Perhaps all the flirtation, the charming behavior, even the… encounter, was meaningless. Alois was undoubtedly playing a game, tormenting his friend’s brother for fun. It was nothing personal.

Edward feels used, becomes bitter and depressed. It bottles up until he can’t play cool anymore.

 

* * *

 

“So how has Alois been?” he says loudly.

Lizzie jumps, startled from her embroidery and clutching her chest. “Edward, you scared me!”

The two of them are sitting on a blanket on the vast lawn of their manor, enjoying a picnic on a beautiful day. Lizzie is embroidering, Edward is woodcarving—but he can’t concentrate.

He leans over to hug his sister. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I didn’t mean to yell.”

“It’s fine,” Lizzie says, rolling her eyes but returning the embrace. When she pulls away, she says, “What were you asking?”

“I… um… I was just wondering how Alois has been,” says Edward, trying to sound casual.

Lizzie raises her eyebrows. “Why do you want to know?” she says.

“Be-because he’s my _friend_ , Lizzie, honestly,” says Edward. “Am I not allowed to ask about my friends?”

“I wasn’t aware that you considered him a friend,” says Lizzie, her brows still raised knowingly. “But, since you asked… he’s alright.”

Edward blinks. “‘Alright’? Just alright?”

“Yeah,” Lizzie says with a shrug. “Why, were you expecting something different?”

 _Maybe it’s best to come clean_ , thinks Edward. Taking a deep breath, he says, “Well… I _may_  have said something a little while ago that offended- OW, LIZZIE!”

Lizzie’s punching various points on his torso furiously, her muscled arms leaving what are sure to be bruises tomorrow. “You absolute _idiot_!” she says.

“Will you stop hitting me?” says Edward, trying his best to deflect the blows.

Lizzie stops, but she looks furious. “What did you do?”

“Nothing!” snaps Edward. “I… We had a small… encounter, and I—“

“Did you hit him?” Lizzie says.

Edward stiffens at that. “No,” he says. “I would never.”

“He’s been flinching more than usual,” says Lizzie, wrapping her arms around herself and looking troubled. “And he’s been that kind of happy… that kind of happy where it’s like he’s achingly sad on the inside but he thinks it’s futile to even try and be properly sad about it, because he thinks his whole life is sad. If that makes sense.”

“It doesn’t,” Edward says, looking off into the distance where their property ends. “Nothing with Alois ever does.”

Lizzie follows his gaze, looking into the distance too. “Sometimes it feels like nothing in my life ever does,” she admits.

They stare at the horizon for a long moment.

“You like him, don’t you, Edward?” Lizzie says suddenly. “More than as a friend, I mean.”

Edward whips his head around to face her. “I-“ he begins.

“It’s ok,” says Lizzie with a slight smile on her face. “You don’t need to feel ashamed. I won’t judge you.”

“I… maybe?” says Edward, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “Lizzie, I just… I don’t know-”

“Well, you should figure it out,” Lizzie says sternly, but her expression is still soft. “I love you, and I love Alois, and I don’t want anything to prevent the two of you from being happy.”

“But… but I messed up, Lizzie…” says Edward, putting his head in his hands.

Lizzie rubs his back. “Everyone messes up,” she says. “Fix it.”

“How?” says Edward desperately.

“A grand gesture,” says Lizzie after a moment of thought. “What’s something you’d never thought you’d do? Something that scares you, something _brave_.”

Edward immediately thinks of something. Then he tries to think of something else, something a little less brave; but eventually he realises he has no other choice.

 

* * *

 

 

The next day he’s standing on the doorstep of Trancy Manor, regretting every decision he’s ever made in his life.

The door swings open, and Edward swallows as he sees who’s at the door.

Claude Faustus. Or, Creepy Claude, as Alexis Midford first called him.

“Um, h-hello,” says Edward, forcing himself to maintain contact with Claude’s unearthly golden eyes. “I’m Edward Midford, son of the Marquis. We’ve met.”

“Yes,” says Claude, staring at him intently. “We have. You do not have an appointment with my master.”

“Yes, I- I know,” Edward says, looking down at his shoes despite his best efforts. “But I would like to- no, I _need_ to see him.”

Claude raises an eyebrow and says, “Interesting. Unfortunately, the Earl is not home at the moment, so—“

“That’s a lie!” Edward says angrily before he can stop himself. “Alois never leaves this place without you; he told me so!”

Claude’s eyes flash the oddest shade of pink-red for a moment. It’s a flash of danger, of warning; it chills Edward to the bone. “The Earl is not at home,” he repeats, his voice made of serrated steel. “And even if he was, he has told me that he never wants to see you again, and I am to turn you away from the door.”

Edward swallows around the lump in his throat. His concern for his own safety battles it out with his concern for Alois, and Alois just barely wins. “Please,” he says. “I know I upset him, but I want to make it right.”

Claude smiles, and it’s almost as terrifying as the flash of his eyes. “How very noble of you,” he says in a mocking tone. “Unfortunately, I have to follow orders—“

“Claude,” a woman’s voice says from behind Edward.

Edward jumps and turns to see a maid standing behind him, arms clasped in front of her and her head tilted modestly down. _When did she get there_? She’s tall, dark, and shapely, with long white hair braided to one side; something about her is so undeniably sensuous that Edward feels his cheeks warm slightly.

“What is it, Hannah?” Claude says, his voice full of distaste.

“His Highness did not give an order to keep Lord Midford away,” says Hannah, her voice soft.

_His Highness?_

Claude’s eyes flash again; it’s only a touch less unsettling when it’s directed at someone else. “Perhaps I misunderstood,” he says slowly.

“Yes, I’m sure you didn’t do it on purpose,” says Hannah, her tone insincere and cutting. “At any rate, I can show Lord Midford up to His Highness’s room, if there are no further objections.”

The two stare at each other for a moment, and the tension in the room is so foreboding and powerful that Edward feels faint. “Very well,” says Claude at last, backing away from the door and gesturing inside. “Welcome to Trancy Manor, Lord Midford.”

Edward shivers. “Th-thank you,” he says, giving Claude a wide berth as he steps inside.

“Come with me, sir. Please,” says Hannah, smiling gently at him and crooking her finger.

“Ok…” says Edward, and his cheeks get warmer.

As he follows Hannah up the stairs he tries to think about what exactly he’s going to say to Alois, and to avoid focusing on the maid’s curvaceous rear. Unfortunately, he falls in both of those departments when Hannah stops suddenly and Edward crashes into her backside.

“You hurt him,” Hannah says before Edward can fumble with an apology, turning and grabbing his chin firmly.

“I’m sorry!” he gasps, suddenly feeling as though his life is on the line. “That’s why I’m here to make it up to him!”

Hannah studies him for a few moments before nodding and releasing his chin from her iron grip. “Very well,” she says. Then she turns and continues to walk as if nothing just happened.

Edward blinks and stands still for a moment before hurrying to catch up with her.

Finally, Hannah stops at a door and opens it, allowing Edward inside. She doesn’t come in with him, instead shutting the door and leaving him inside… a bedroom? It seems to be Alois’s bedroom.

“What is it?”

Alois’s voice is coming from the mound of blankets on the bed.

Edward clears his throat. “Um, it’s me. Edward.”

Silence follows, and Edward nervously adds, “Edward Midford, the son of-“

“I know who you are,” grumbles Alois. Suddenly, the blankets are whipped off the bed to reveal Alois, fully clothed. “What do you want?”

“I just… I want to talk,” says Edward.

“Talk? About what?” Alois says, his voice growing louder. “About my ‘perversions’? About how I’m ‘filthy, disgusting’, a ’disgraceful excuse for a lord, a blight on society’?”

Edward winces as his words are thrown back in his face. “You… you remembered all of that.”

“Edward, I have forgotten many things,” says Alois, curling in his long lanky legs so he’s tucked into a seated fetal position. “Including innocence, happiness, and what the purpose of Parliament is. But I never forget an insult someone throws at me. And there have been a lot of those.”

“Oh,” says Edward, completely at a loss for words.

Alois laughs nastily. “Look at you, with your mouth open like a dead fish. You look idiotic. You’re so out of your depth, Edward; chockfull of your stupid society’s rules. Why did you come here? You’ll never understand, never-“

“That’s not fair,” shouts Edward, his face heating up with anger. “I came here because I _want_ to understand. And you know what? You’re right; I’m absolutely full of my society’s rules. So maybe you should have realised that having a romance with another boy would scare the hell out of me?”

There’s a pause, in which Edward’s breathing heavily from his outburst. He hears a bubbly noise, and looks up in surprise to find that Alois is _giggling_. “What’s so bloody funny?” he demands.

“I just… ‘romance’,” says Alois, moving his legs so that they’re dangled over the side of the bed, kicking them lightly. “Such a word… I didn’t realise we were having a ‘romance’.”

“Alois, I would never do so much as touch a girl if we weren’t in a relationship,” Edward says flatly. “What the two of us did? That’s… I wasn’t going to do that with anyone but the woman I’d marry.”

Alois’s feet stop kicking, and his blue eyes widen slightly. He looks down at his feet and sighs. “I… I never thought that such an act would be so important. That was my fault. I’m… I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted,” says Edward. “And I’m so, so sorry about… about pushing you. And insulting you. And everything; I was such a prat, honestly—“

“You’re rambling,” Alois says, but he’s smiling slightly. “Apology accepted.”

“You have a beautiful smile,” Edward says before he can stop himself.

Alois gasps, saying, “Stop, stop, you moron!” as his smile turns big and goofy; even more beautiful in Edward’s opinion.

“Are you embarrassed?” says Edward in pleased disbelief, stepping forward to inspect the redness of Alois’s cheeks. “You are! You can rub your arse all over me or moan like a whore while sucking on a tea-biscuit, but you can’t take a bloody compliment without getting rosy?”

“Shut up, oh my God!” squeals Alois, covering his face. “I… your eyes are pretty!”

“What?” Edward says, perplexed.

“Your eyes are like emeralds,” says Alois, looking at Edward through the cracks in his fingers. “And they look so deep I could swim in them. So pretty… Ha! You’re blushing, too!”

“No I’m not!” protests Edward, although his face is definitely quite warm.

“Edward!” Alois says suddenly, leaping up and grabbing Edward by the shoulders. “Can I kiss you? Please say yes, Edward, please.”

Edward looks at Alois’s big eager eyes and knows that there’s no turning back. “Alois,” he says. “Of course.”

And suddenly his arms are full of Alois, and they’re kissing. They kiss for a while, and when Alois opens his mouth to draw Edward’s tongue in and suck on it, Edward forgets the world around him.

Finally, Alois pulls back, his lips gleaming and swollen. “You’ve been calling me ‘Alois’,” he says quietly.

Edward smiles. “I told you I’d try, didn’t I?”

Alois echoes the smile. “You did,” he admits. Then his expression changes to one of worry, and he says, “Edward. This is going to be impossible.”

“No it won’t,” says Edward. “We’ll make this work.”

“But _how_?” says Alois. “Of course we’ll try and keep it a secret, but word will break out, and—“

“My family is very powerful,” Edward says, taking Alois’s hands and squeezing them. “And so is yours. We’ll crush anyone who tries to rat on us.”

“Ooh,” says Alois with a little smile. “I like hearing you talk like that.” Then he gets solemn again. “But it’s not just that, Edward. It’s like I’ve been saying. You don’t know anything about me, and—“

“I know. Which is why I want you to tell me everything about you,” Edward says, leading Alois to the bed so they can both sit down. “Everything that you keep saying I won’t understand.”

Alois sighs, sitting down and leaning his head on Edward’s shoulder. “Ok… how do you feel about demons?” he asks hesitantly.

“I’m prepared to support you, no matter what inner demons you may be fighting,” Edward says firmly.

Alois lets out a nervous whistle. “Oh, boy. Maybe I should just start from the beginning.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Liking the pairing? Then PLEASE add to it! Make edits, write fics, do fanart, write headcanons. Anything!!! And drop them all off at my tumblr, lizmidford.tumblr.com. Or just come talk to me in general! <3 <3 <3


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